Deliver us from evil and lead us not into temptation

Let's go to the word of the Lord, and in the book of Acts we have, continuing with the study that we started. 3 weeks ago, I preached the last sermon. We are going to go to Chapter 5, I am going to be economical in the use of time. Keep your vigilance there and your receptivity to the word of God and we will see that the Lord edifies us through this message as well. Chapter 5, from the book of Acts. It is quite a long Chapter, I am going to simply touch on the salient topics. It says in verse 1:

"...But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold an inheritance and subtracted from the price..."

That word subtracted there it damaged everything to the man.

“… he subtracted from the price knowing his wife too….,─ there she sinned, she also got into trouble ─ …. And bringing only a part, he placed it at the feet of the Apostles and Peter said, “Ananias, why did Satan fill your heart so that you would lie to the Holy Spirit and subtract the price of the inheritance? Holding her didn't stay with you? And sold, was it not in your power? Why did you put this in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell and breathed his last and great fear came over all those who heard it and the young men got up… ─The problem of burying poor Ananaías fell to the young men─…they wrapped him up and took him out and buried him. After a period of about three hours, it happened that his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Then Peter said to her, “Tell me, Sapphira, did you sell the inheritance for so much? And she said, "Yes, in the meantime," and Peter said to her, "Why did you agree to tempt the spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” Instantly she fell at his feet and breathed her last. And when the young people came in, they found her dead… ─they must have said, wow, what will we have done today that we have had to bury two people ─…. Instantly she fell at her feet and breathed her last, and the young men coming in found her dead and they took her out and buried her next to her husband. And great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things…”

I'm going to leave it there. The rest of the passage, from verses 12 to 16 show us that victorious life, filled with the Holy Spirit, healing, signs, wonders that the first Christians lived, a report of what life was like at that time, supernatural in that church. primitive. And verses 17 to 42, which is the end of the Chapter, show us the persecution that broke out against Peter and the Apostles, and also the victory they won. Even in the midst of persecution, how they gave clear and vigorous witness to the Christ who had risen and called them to be representatives of the Kingdom of God on earth.

And this entire passage is very beautiful and I am simply going to limit myself to, as I said, touching on the salient points of this marvelous Chapter.

Number 1, in Chapter 4, a few weeks ago when I preached, Chapter 4, the previous one, gives us a glorious picture of the life of the first disciples. We saw that despite the persecution that was unleashed with the healing of the lame man before the beautiful gate in the temple, despite the persecution that will come when the children of God move in the power of the Holy Spirit, despite that, there is victory, there is an effective testimony of Jesus Christ given by Peter and John before the members of the Jerusalem council.

Peter and John return victorious to their own, says the Bible, to their own, who? Your spiritual family. They return to their own and testify what God has done before the council, the brothers rejoice, pray that God continues to move in the midst of the enemy's persecution, and God blesses that great meeting with a tremor that confirms his powerful presence in the midst of from them. And it says that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

And I was saying this morning that this fact touched me, that these same disciples, who on the day of Pentecost, months before, had been filled with the Holy Spirit, are now filled again with the Holy Spirit. Because? Why is the Holy Spirit redundant? No, because they needed a fresh anointing.

How many know that we need to continually refresh ourselves, fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit over and over and over again. We cannot be content with the anointing of yesterday or last year. The son of God, the daughter of God must always be looking for the new filling of the Holy Spirit, prayer, praise, the search for the face of God, times of vigil, fasting, reading the word.

When we see that this temperature is going down, we have to raise it again. Because in the course of serving God, energy is spent, like in a car, and we need to return again to fill ourselves with the presence of God. Therefore, they receive a fresh infilling of the Holy Ghost and continue to witness with power.

And in that same Chapter 4, the previous one, from verses 32 to 37 concludes with another summary of the wonderful life of those first disciples, a collective life filled with God's anointing. We see there manifestations of unity, they were unanimous, together, generosity, they shared everything they had, the power of God that strengthened and testified that they were children of God. There was also favor before the people because that community that testified and lived a life of integrity and holiness, had grace before the people, as every church will have, every person who lives the values of the Kingdom of God. People from outside will look and say, I want to be like him or like her. Amen.

So we have to live that victorious life and we also saw, it says in that Chapter 4, at the end, that the disciples shared generously, it says to the point that some sold their properties and the money they received from the properties they brought to the disciples to be shared among the poor of the community. Wonderful report of life.

But you know what? That the devil always wants to get his dirty nails when the life of God is manifesting. What's happening? That same blessing of brothers sharing their properties with each other, the enemy begins to try to use it to harm that community. Now, here in Chapter 5 you see it begins, “….But, a certain man named Ananias…”

That but there, what he is saying, well, despite all that good, something happened to make you want to harm those acts of so much blessing. Here in Chapter 5 we see the other side of the coin, the humanity of that community.

How many know that God's people are not perfect? That a church is not perfect, there is always something that tends to want to hurt it. And many times the very blessing of God, if we don't take care of ourselves, will want to undermine and weaken the blessings that God wants to bring. We cannot, when God is blessing a community, we cannot lower our guard. you know? We cannot boast, oh, how good is the blessing of God! We have to keep our eyes alert.

The Bible says to be sober and watchful because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. And what happened? That the same blessing that God had brought, that people generously gave of their goods, now the enemy wants to take it back.

And this couple, Ananias and Sapphira, what's more, have you ever wondered what happened to Ananias and Sapphira after they died? Have they gone to hell? I don't know if you are as curious as I am, but did I ask myself that question? Know what? This is free, this is a theological reflection, I am not going to charge you for it, for what I am going to tell you right now. You know I think Ananias and Sapphira possibly went to heaven, God disciplined them and dealt with them, struck them down, that's true as lightning, but I think he took them away. He wanted to set an example. That's my personal version, don't let that confuse you. I think these people, how many times have we screwed up? Wanting to do something and our heart loves God but sometimes we do things that are terrible. But God also judges us, don't believe it.

And I believe that in this environment in which such powerful things were happening, God wanted to set an example. And many times God deals with us and says that our body is given to Satan so that our soul does not perish. And I think that perhaps, God in his mercy, yes, he disciplined these people, but it is possible, I reserve there as a possibility that God took them with him.

But the important thing is that they made a serious mistake and we see something very interesting here. I say that there are about three movements, three tonalities in the book of Acts. And you're going to see it over and over and over again.

Number 1, we see on many occasions the power of God manifesting itself openly, as we will see later in this same passage, miracles, signs, wonders, healings, science, knowledge of God, powerful revelation, that is one of the moments in the book of the facts.

The second tone is persecution that we often see coming. Many times after God does something powerful, the devil immediately comes along and persecutes God's people. On many occasions we see that throughout the book of Acts. And let me tell you, when you are serving God and God is doing great things through your life, as I was saying before, the enemy is going to want to take revenge and do damage. And that is why we have to always be firm in the Lord, always looking for a double portion of his spirit.

Every day I am convinced more and more brothers, it is not that we are afraid of the devil, it is not that we give more importance to Satan than he deserves, but I do see something. Look right here in this passage who does Peter say filled the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira? Satan. I believe that I cannot give the devil too much glory but we must not neglect him either.

And I believe that if the children of God thought more about the mysterious work of evil on earth, we would be more careful, more watchful of our own personal lives. I believe that the church has lost that awareness that we live in a world permeated by evil and that we have to be vigilant, we have to take care of ourselves, we have to live a holy life, we have to be as meticulous as possible in the way we we live. Because there is an enemy that wants to take advantage of anything to get in and do damage.

The Apostle Peter in another passage also says, we put on the whole armor of God because our fight is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. And there are many other passages that tell us about that.

The New Testament tells us to be careful, be careful and in this case the enemy is trying, even while God is blessing, he is trying to use. You know what? Many times among the people of God the enemy will use the weakest elements to wreak havoc. And that is why we also have to be vigilant, have mercy on weak people and know that many times our fight is not against that person who is hurting you, it is not against the person who is gossiping, It is not against that individual who is somehow serving as a stumbling block in your path, do not see that person, as your enemy, behind him or her, see Satan trying to use a person to do harm in your life to make you fall

Perhaps what is happening in the church, there is division, there is struggle, a leader who does not behave as he should. Behind all that, yes, you can see that person, but there is also the force of evil trying to do harm. And you have to identify that.

At home, there are fights, there are difficulties, a child becomes rebellious overnight, problems arise in the marriage. True, there are issues that have to be dealt with directly humanely, but many times behind that is the devil trying to undermine the peace of the home.

And if you identify your wife as your enemy, then you have given the devil victory. No, identify the evil power that wants to harm your life, and put on the armor of God and rebuke in the name of Jesus.

Let me tell you, God has been speaking a lot in my life these days. I didn't share that as much with the morning service, but God is speaking to me a lot these days about the power of the devil to harm God's children. And it's not that I'm taking glory away from God, every day I'm convinced that God has victory over the powers of evil, but we have to take care of ourselves.

God has spoken to me a lot about that prayer of the Our Father where Christ says, "deliver us from evil and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil." You know something interesting, I'm getting a little off topic now, but that's it, because this is Satan, the fight, his desire to do harm when God is blessing.

When Christ said, do not lead us into temptation, one kind of wonders, well, God does not lead anyone into temptation. How is God going to put me into temptation? The original Greek, this is something I discovered recently, the original Greek, the word that is translated into Spanish temptation, can mean either temptation or attack, crisis, persecution. So, I feel that the preferable translation would be in this case, and don't put us in, don't let us fall into persecution, into attacks, into tests, but deliver us from evil.

Go? It makes a lot more sense to me what follows after that. And the idea is, only God can keep us from evil, brothers. There are times when a man or a woman can do everything they can to walk in holiness and please the Lord, but sometimes their humanity, their biology, a human relationship, a situation, a decay, whatever, can make that person falls into a trap and does something that is contrary to his very nature.

An accident, a blind force that comes and destroys, does harm, a destructive element that enters the human body, the blind evil that wants to do harm. Satan only knows how to kill, steal and destroy, and we have to ask the Lord, Father, deliver us from evil, deliver us from temptation and give us your blessing, fill us with your grace, take care of us, protect us. Cover your family always with the blood of Christ. Pray that the enemy will not enter your life or your home. While you give glory to God and are aware of the power of Christ as well, tell Satan, you cannot enter my life, you have no power. I belong to Christ, I belong to the Kingdom of God. And affirm the lordship of Christ in your life, good is the law, the principle that governs your life.

The shed blood of Christ that defeated principalities and powers. But be aware of the evil, be aware of the enemy. Take care, don't let the enemy in. The Bible says that, that we don't give the enemy a foothold. Let's not give him a finger so that he sticks his little finger in there, because he grabs hold of it and then goes completely into the house. Give the devil nothing, not an inch to land in your life. Cover yourself with the blood of the Lord and always ask for wisdom.

Do not underestimate the importance of actions, thoughts, words, because perhaps God is not going to act as suddenly as he acted with Ananias and Sapphira, give glory to God, because otherwise no one would leave here alive. But you know what? I was saying this morning that there is always a consequence. When we do something, when there is dishonesty in our hearts, when there are improper words, when there are actions that no one sees, the eye of God does see, the Holy Spirit does see, and there are consequences, there is death, there is death in some way, there is impoverishment of our life, there is a loss of authority, there is an escape of power, there is judgment that comes, there are negative consequences, our communion with God is interrupted. There are many ways.

And that's why we have to be careful because God is real, Satan is real, and we live in a world where eyes are everywhere. There is a great cloud of witnesses that is always around us. And we have to walk in that way, we are figures that represent the Kingdom of God. We have to ask the Lord, Lord, help us to walk in such a way that you are pleased and that your name is glorified in our lives.

So, Ananias and Sapphira, for me, represent that element of imperfection and humanity that exists in every Christian community and that the enemy wants to use to do harm, but we cannot allow it to be so, we have to believe that God wants purify.

Why was God so withering with Ananias and Sapphira? Remember that we are in the very beginnings of the church of Jesus Christ. God wanted to give an example of his watchful presence. God also wanted, something interesting, over and over again, I don't have time to look for them but look at that over and over again, and a great fear came, it says so in verse 5 and it says so in verse 11, and a great fear came over the whole church. God wanted to tell the church, be alert, my children, I am watching, be sober, watch, be holy as I am holy.

The church has to have a healthy fear before God. Not to be afraid of God but to have a holy fear. I believe that we have lost the fear of God many times. We already treat God as if he were our pana, our panita. We shake his hand, we put our arm around his shoulder and we want God to go where we go and forget what we do. God is holy, holy, holy. And we have to walk with him, he is in heaven and I am on earth, says the Bible, therefore your words may be few, your thoughts may be few, your claims may be few. Walk soberly before God.

I believe that this is the message that the example of Ananias and Sapphira gives us. There is something else in verse 12 to 16 of that Chapter 5 of the book of Acts, there is a report, like a summary of the life of the disciples. We see those summaries several times in the book of Acts. It is like a complete report of what is happening.

There we are told that there is power in the life of the disciples. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so powerful that signs and wonders, healings and deliverances were common among the disciples. Note, brothers, that it says, all were healed, in verse 16, it says that even from neighboring cities, many came to Jerusalem bringing sick and tormented with unclean spirits and all were healed.

Wow, the presence of God was so powerful. Maybe in our times not everyone will be healed, not everyone will be healed, but you know what? For me that is the target, in the very center of... that is where I have to aim, that the power of God be so great in my life and in the life of my church that the healing, the liberation, the manifestation of the power of God is totally irresistible. I am going to continue asking the Lord more and more each day, Father, that your anointing be more powerful each day in our midst, because I believe that this same power is for us also in our time.

I am not going to be satisfied with someone being cured of a headache, I want that if they cut off their head, I can stick it on in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. We want cancers to be healed, we want people who are impeded in their movement, God to send his spirit and lift them up so that they can serve the Lord even more effectively. Glory to God for the wonderful testimony of my sister Ciumara, because for me she is a testimony of faith. That's the faith of God, the power of God in it working in a different way.

But we also want to see manifestations of healing in all dimensions. Amen. And I will continue to ask the Lord, Father, that your power descend upon your church. That's why I have to improve my own life and so do you. We want to be a church each day more penetrable by the power of God. I believe that God has great things for us, but we have to pay a price, we have to prepare our lives, we have to give more to the Lord every day. Whoever is weak over there, thinking about little birds in the air, stand firm. Amen. The person who is playing between two worlds, define yourself once and for all. Fill yourself with the word of God, seek more and more the anointing of the Holy Spirit in your life, pay the price. Let's pay the price, León de Judá church so that God can do everything he wants.

It is a wonderful passage. May all be healed, may all be freed, may all be blessed, may every day that people come to our church, when we adore the Lord, we may do so with hearts surrendered to God, aware that we adore the king of kings, the Lord of Gentlemen. That the people come willing to give their lives to the Lord in adoration and praise, that a people radically committed to the values of the Kingdom of God come, an exemplary people, brothers, and that the power of God manifests itself among us, genuine, true, full of grace and sympathy. They fight for it.

Because I see that vitality here reflected in this passage, even in the midst of the sins of Ananias and Sapphira, and the imperfections of the people, there is also a blessing.

And by the way, I forgot, I said that there were three movements, 1. Power, anointing, filling of the Holy Spirit, 2. Persecution and 3. Imperfection, humanity. There are moments when this imperfection manifests itself, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. But we see that game, power, persecution, imperfection, manifesting itself over and over again in the book of Acts.

When Paul and Silas have their fight, when in Chapter 6 there are fights between the Jews and the Greeks about widows, how they are cared for. It was talked about about three weeks ago. Now in this case Ananias and Sapphira, but in all of that there is also the power of God anointing himself.

That is the wealth, that is the beauty of a Christian community. In a Christian community there is everything. Even at the same time that God is moving there is sin too, but that does not mean that God is not so powerful. God is powerful and we need to have wise eyes to discern one thing from the other and just move forward in faith, not letting anything deter us or get us off our path.

Now, this last passage, which is verses 17 to 42, I want to treat it like this slightly before concluding. This last great passage of this Chapter deals with the new persecution, another wave of persecution that came over that period of great manifestation of God's power.

We see in the first part, imperfection and sin, in the second part, from 12 to 17, power and anointing, and now 17 to 42, persecution. Three shades of life. The Christian life moves in those three moments, and one has to know how to swim those waters for each one of those moments, when the test comes, when persecution comes, and when sin manifests itself, either in ourselves or in others. . May our gaze always remain fixed on Christ Jesus.

So here comes the persecution that followed this great period of manifestation of the power of God. The Jewish authorities are filled with jealousy, he says, and they put Peter and the other Apostles... this time they are not Peter and John, but the other Apostles, they put them in jail. What's going on? Victoria, an angel frees them and sends them to announce to the people, he says, the words of this life.

Have you ever stopped at that wonderful expression? That poetic. The words of this life. Go, stand before the community and announce the words of this life. This morning I was telling people how important it is that we see Christianity as a life, a lifestyle, an experience. It's not just when you walk through the door, and put on your evangelical hat, and then now you're a paragon of virtues, all good, the little devils are waiting for you out there to show up again, right? or manifest through you sometimes as well. Not that that's a problem between us.

But we have to be careful to differentiate between a life that is only lived within the church, when they are looking at us in context, and a life that we embrace and that embraces us. Christianity is a life, brothers, it is a profession, my faith penetrates all dimensions of my life, the ethical dimension, the moral dimension, the relational dimension, the life of my family, my profession, my financial life, how I manage my money, how I manage my mental, emotional life, how I deal with the conflicts and struggles of life. Everything, how I have fun, how I dress, everything, brothers, say amen, even if it's to cheer me up a little.

All dimensions of life are penetrated by the values of the Gospel and we have to say to ourselves, how is the leaven of the Kingdom of God penetrating the whole mass of my life? How are my relationships with others? Do I reflect the grace of Jesus? How are my finances? Is it me, if someone examines, if they audit my finances, do they reflect the values of a man, a woman of God, of the Kingdom of God? How I distribute my money.

My time, how is my time distributed? Does it glorify God, does it reflect the priorities of the Kingdom of God or of a carnal person who lives as he pleases? How is the Christian life manifesting through your life? The words of this life.

That is what we have to announce to the people, the values, the principles of the Kingdom of God, because Christianity is a life. And as I am living my life in such a way that my life reflects the grace, the blessing of the Kingdom of God. As the Apostle Paul says in Philippians, may your kindness be known to all men. Our life must always reflect the sympathy of the Kingdom of God, the joy, the peace, the love, the vitality, the victory, the power, the authority of the Kingdom of God, that when people look at me, when they look at you, they see the roundness of the Gospel reflected in you, and may your word, your action always be full of grace, and may people see you as a healer, someone healthy who, even in the midst of trials and difficulties, reflects the joy of the Lord and the victory of God.

That is what God wants, the words of this life. Announce people both with your life and with your word as well. Amen. The words of this life.

Now, that angelic liberation, because the Bible says that an angel came and frees and sends them to announce the words of this life, this serves to show us once again the power of God to liberate and protect his own.

We see here the exceptional nature of what is happening at this time, why? Because God doesn't always deliver his own in a spectacular way. Sometimes like the case of John the Baptist, God chooses to allow the death of his servants in order to glorify himself in that way as well.

I remember the words of Daniel when in the book of Daniel, he tells the king of Babylon with his companions that he wants to put them in the furnace of fire, he says, do you know something, king? That the God we serve is powerful enough to deliver us from the fiery furnace. But if you don't free us, we're still not going to kneel before your statue.

The son of God serves God for life or for death, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. If God frees you from prison, any prison, any persecution, give glory to God, but if he leaves you in the furnace of trial, give glory to God too. In every situation in life, the children of God are more than victorious.

Says the Apostle Paul, who will separate us from the love of God? Tribulation or anguish or famine or nakedness, or danger or sword or death, he says, before in all these things we are more than victorious. If God heals you give glory to God, if he doesn't heal you give glory to God. It is the same God.

Paul and Silas put in jail whipped, persecuted, cold, hungry, they sang hymns giving glory to God, and the jail trembled and its chains fell off. When a child of God gives glory to God in the midst of his tribulations, struggles, sufferings, even falls, God is glorified and the devil is ashamed.

Remember that in any situation in life, because God may one day send an angel to free you, but one day he may cut off your head and perhaps God wants that blood that you shed to glorify him. That is why I said to a brother this morning, many times I do not even know how to pray, it is not that my faith is little, it is that I know God very little and sometimes I do not know if God wants to give me life or kill me for his glory. But you have to pray anyway so that it gives you life. Keep praying to the Lord to heal you. Keep praying to God to get you out of trouble. Keep praying to God to give you prosperity, and if he doesn't want to give it's his business, keep serving him, giving glory to the Lord, with the same joy and that will slow down, it will give you victory in the end.

But I believe that at this moment God wanted to show his power. Because I tell you, God is working in a very powerful way there, and he decided to send his angel and get them out of jail so they could continue testifying.

By the way, on one occasion, I don't know if they were flogged on this one. Was it here that they were flogged? Yes, verse 40, they agreed with him, calling the Apostles, after whipping them so that they would not leave unharmed, so that they would remember. They also gave him a little whip so that they leave happy. But it says here, and they left the presence of the council rejoicing at having been counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name's sake.

God willing that this be the attitude of our lives. Sometimes they will persecute us, sometimes we will get into difficulties, we have to give glory to the Lord and retain the same joy as always. I ask you, Father, help me to be joyful even in... not only when everything is going well for me, but also in tribulations and waiting for the morning to come. Sometimes the darkest time is the morning before the sun rises, but son of God, daughter of God, hold on in the name of the Lord and give glory to God and rejoice in the midst of the insults, of the difficulties.

There is one last element that is very interesting, and that is that Gamaliel's behavior seems interesting to me. Gamaliel is a member of the Sanhedrin, he is a distinguished rabbi, some say the teacher of the Apostle Paul, when Saul was a Pharisee and was Paul's instructor and tutor. And Gamaliel is a rabbi who is still regarded as a very exceptional person in the Jewish rabbinical pantheon, still. And I can see why. Because here this man behaves with a wisdom that we do well to imitate.

What's happening? When these Jewish leaders feel full of jealousy and want to kill Peter and the Apostles, Gamaliel, when they are talking to each other, they take them out of the room and Gamaliel tells them, look, my friends, let's be careful, so-and-so passed by. and he wanted to take the world over and since he was not aligned with God, they cut off his head. And then Zutano came, and it also seemed that his movement was going to be very successful but it was not from God and it failed. If these people are not from God, what they represent will be undone, and will fail, but if it is from God, let us not be found fighting against God.

What a great wisdom, right? And what I want to tell you, brothers, is that many times in life, look, there are situations, there are people in Christianity who come to life and their manifestation is different from what we have seen up to now and what happens? Many times we want to draw the sword and cut off the head. But I say that we have to be sober and patient.

Many times when one sees people, preaching, preachers, movements that one says, wow, I kind of think there's something there that I don't believe is from God. But instead of launching at once to denounce him and want to cut his head off, pray, and give the Lord time. Because I believe that God speaks for God to clarify things. And many times when it is not from God it collapses.

There are times when you see people taking the world by storm, churches growing, ministries doing things, but if the foundation is not good, in the long run that falls. Now, pray, when you see something unusual in life, in your family, give it time to mature. The Lord Jesus Christ made a parable and said, look, when you see that the wheat grows with the weeds, do not rush to cut everything at once, to cut the weeds, because perhaps you will be wrong and cut the wheat with the weeds, let both mature, that they are well defined and then cut it so that it does not kill the bad with the good.

I believe that the Lord tells us to be careful in our lives. There are times when we must give time to the processes, sometimes a piece of advice that they give us, instead of rejecting it immediately, give it time for God to speak to you, consider it a little more. Sometimes something that God is doing in your life and you don't know, will it be from God, will it be from evil? Pray and give time to the Lord. There is sometimes a situation in your family, a son who is... gives you a word, a behavior, give time to time. Sometimes we are so hasty, we rush to chop off heads, we rush to pronounce, this is from God, this is not from God. God wants us to have healthy humility and patience and to ask God for wisdom. Let's take time. God works, brothers.

I believe more and more every day, God is faithful to show the truth of things. I do not have to be continually with a sword immediately launching myself to strike down against this or that, I have to ask the Lord to give me wisdom and sometimes measure my own impulses to see if they are from God or not. we have to be patient, be sober, and give time to time and give God time to enlighten us.

Clear. Amen. A great example from Gamaliel who was a rabbi who did not believe in Jesus Christ but who had great wisdom. Brothers, may the grace of the Lord be with you on this day. Let's remember, God is faithful, he manifests himself in our life, there is power. The Holy Spirit is among us. Let's be sober and also watch because the enemy wants to undermine and do damage. Let us be patient with the humanity of others and forgive, tolerate and pray for those who offend us. And let's not be scandalized, let's run away.

And thirdly, when persecution comes, let us stand firm in what God has declared and wait because when the bad day passes, if we clothe ourselves with the power of God we will stand firm, Satan will not be able to prevail against a child of God. Our life is powerful, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. God is powerful to get us out of any trouble, and if he doesn't get us out, it's because he has a better plan. Let's give glory to the Lord. Let us live constant, firm lives and our path will be upward like the light of dawn. Trials will come, but the time of refreshment, of rest, of blessing will also come, and we will come out shining like gold if we are firm when difficulties come.

God bless you. Let's stand up. Receive what touches you. God has given many different blessings on this day, many things. Remember this time. What has God spoken to you? What has God said to you in your life today? Hold that. Keep that, pray about it, put it in your heart and put that seed deep in your soil so that it bears fruit.

Thank God for all the blessings we have received, victory in the midst of life's limitations. I think it is something very beautiful that God has given us today. Grace of God that manifests itself at all times.

Father, we want to be a community that reflects the roundness of the Kingdom of God. We want to be a community full of grace and favor towards men and towards you. We want to bring pleasure to your Father's heart. Lord, deliver us from evil, deliver us from the blind and dark forces that move in the depths of life wanting to get in and do harm and undermine your grace in us.

Give us watchful eyes, give us alert hearts, give us a life that allows Christ to cover us with his wings and protect us from the attacks of the enemy. Bless this church, Father, this community in which you are doing beautiful things. Preserve us from evil. Help us to be humble and simple of heart and always give glory to you, Father and seek your anointing and walk humbly before you and be witnesses of the grace of Christ before this community.

Father, look at our base and put a beautiful building on top of it that glorifies Christ and blesses this community. Make us irresistible, Lord, make us spiritually radioactive. Give us a forceful word, Lord, for the world, manifest your signs, your miracles, your prodigies, your healings, your liberations, in our midst, Father, break, Lord, the dam so that the water of your spirit may roar and flow. Take all the bad, Father, sickness and darkness, Lord, before the declarations of power of Christ Jesus.

We want to see the glory of Christ manifested. We want a great tsunami to come, Lord, of power to carry away the hosts of evil, Father. Oh, we want to see your glory manifested, Lord, we want to see the name of Jesus enthroned, held high for all to look up to and all who believe will be saved.

Use us, Lord, use us as an instrument in your hands, Parents. We want your glory to manifest, Lord. Bless this people and get them out of here with your blessing and your grace, Lord, we adore you and we bless you. Bless the name of the Lord, my brother, my sister, before you leave here, give glory to God. Give glory to the name of the Lord. Give glory to the name of Jesus and leave here prepared and able to live the life that God wants you to live. Amen and amen.